The James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health & Compensation Act has passed and will be signed into law. The Zadroga bill would provide long-term funding to continue medical monitoring and treatment programs for people with illnesses related to the World Trade Center attacks. It would also open a victims compensation fund for the sick and survivors of those who have died.

Obama quietly signed the Zadroga bill Sunday and put into law a $4.3 billion commitment to help ailing 9/11 responders and volunteers. Obama put his ornate signature to the legislation in private during his Hawaiian vacation, foregoing the usual fanfare of a major bill signing ceremony. But the friends of the bill's namesake were satisfied. "It was a bittersweet battle and this is a bittersweet victory," said Joseph Zadroga, the father of James Zadroga, an NYPD detective who died of 9/11-related illnesses. "It's been a long road," the father said, but "it finally got signed" and now the responders "get some help and recognition. I'm glad for them." "We always had faith that the bill would get passed, despite some debate and some politics," said Mike Paladino, president of the New York City Detectives Endowment Association. "The U.S.A. has done the right thing." James Zadroga, an NYPD detective who died of 9/11-related illnesses, was a member of Paladino's union. The low-key nature of the signing puzzled many in the New York 9/11 community."I don't get it," said John Feal, head of the FealGood 9/11 workers' advocacy group. "But it is what it is. We're just glad he got this done." Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan), one of the main House sponsors of the bill with Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) and Peter King (R-L.I.), called the signing "a wonderful victory for 9/11 responders and survivors who have been waiting for help for nine long years." The bill "will save lives and meet our moral obligation to help those who rise to the defense of America in a time of war," Maloney said. Many of the responders believed that Obama had been lukewarm in his support through the long struggle to get the bill passed. Obama's signature opened up a new front in the fight over how the $4.3 billion bill, whittled down from $7.4 billion to get it passed, will be implemented. The compensation and health care benefits don't kick in until July 1 and a special master has yet to be appointed to administer the law. Those covered by the bill will include Ground Zero responders, volunteers and morgue employees as well as people who lived near Ground Zero, or worked or attended school nearby. The package includes $1.5 billion for treatment of breathing disorders and mental health problems, and $2.8 billion in compensation for those affected.